When the President Talks to God.

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2670176?htv=12

This is a song by a young folk singer called Bright Eyes. When I saw this episode of Leno a while back I was thoroughly impressed.

Discuss this song.


"When The President Talks To God"

When the president talks to God
Are the conversations brief or long?
Does he ask to rape our women’s' rights
And send poor farm kids off to die?
Does God suggest an oil hike
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
Are the consonants all hard or soft?
Is he resolute all down the line?
Is every issue black or white?
Does what God say ever change his mind
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
Does he fake that drawl or merely nod?
Agree which convicts should be killed?
Where prisons should be built and filled?
Which voter fraud must be concealed
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
I wonder which one plays the better cop
We should find some jobs. the ghetto's broke
No, they're lazy, George, I say we don't
Just give 'em more liquor stores and dirty coke
That's what God recommends

When the president talks to God
Do they drink near beer and go play golf
While they pick which countries to invade
Which Muslim souls still can be saved?
I guess god just calls a spade a spade
When the president talks to God

When the president talks to God
Does he ever think that maybe he's not?
That that voice is just inside his head
When he kneels next to the presidential bed
Does he ever smell his own bull
When the president talks to God?

I doubt it

I doubt it


Also, here are the lyrics.

I've been a fan of Bright Eyes for a long time, but I thought that song was pretty stupid.

Oh yeah, you like Bush, huh?

Not really, no. It's just a stupid whiney song.

Everything Bright Eyes does is whiney.

True. I just hate it when bands get political.

I much prefer The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again

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True. I just hate it when bands get political.

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I never could understand that mindset... Aside from politics, there is very little meaningful things to sing about.

no kidding. im so tired of anti-bush songs. its like "ok, i get it, you dont like bush, now stfu and go write some good music." good god. i mean, seriously, hes been president for like, 5 years? well, hes gonna be in for another 3, and theres nothing you or I can do about it, so quit your bitching and get over it.

So what should people write about? Holding hands? Making out? Doing drugs? At least political songs have some sort of meaning to them.

Not bad - not my style of music, though. The lyrics are cool, though.

I don't require songs to have meaning beyond just being a good song. If I want politics I'd prefer not to get my information from a song.

Besides the fact that the song just isn't good. The lyrics, for the message they're trying to convey, are pathetic.

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Besides the fact that the song just isn't good. The lyrics, for the message they're trying to convey, are pathetic.

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I completely disagree. I think the lyrics are quite powerful, and I think that they convey the desired message quite well.

It takes God, and mixes it with a Republican point of view. This, in turn, makes Bush out to be a hypocrit. It shows that there is a contradiction between the Christian faith and the Republican ideology.

Also, I must apologize. At the moment I am not doing a very good job at making sense, but bear with me, please.

It's fine. I just think a few of the lines seem too... petty or something and discredit their complaints. It's just a song though; I'm not concerned.

I like how the song is written, until close to the end, never heard it though. I do like some bands that act political, but only very few can pull it off. Green Day - No. System of a Down - Yes. Their music is basically pointing out the wrongs of society, sometimes serious, sometimes funny. A Perfect Circle is pretty good at it too, but SoaD is the master of it, imo.

I dont like Bush but I dont like the song much either.

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

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True. I just hate it when bands get political.

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I never could understand that mindset... Aside from politics, there is very little meaningful things to sing about.

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Thats exactly how i feel, so i like it when some bands do political songs... Ever heard B.Y.O.B. by system of a down. Thats a good political song for people anti-bush, and who like hard rock.

I guess I'd have to hear it to music, but I can't say the lyrics sound like they'd fit very well into a song form that I'd like. Also, I think it's pretty overbearing. I'm pretty damn liberal, but I believe that many of the problems aimed at George Bush in that song are problems of the American people in general.

Can't say I like this song.

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Originally Posted by Azar

I guess I'd have to hear it to music, but I can't say the lyrics sound like they'd fit very well into a song form that I'd like. Also, I think it's pretty overbearing. I'm pretty damn liberal, but I believe that many of the problems aimed at George Bush in that song are problems of the American people in general.

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That's about how I feel about it, yes. Except I'm not pretty damn liberal.

And it doesn't fit very will to music. The lyrics are spoken with some soft music in playing.

Uh...I don't like it either. I defend political songs, and political poetry, but I don't think those lyrics are specially interesting. In fact it's quite a pamphlet, and I dunno...it's not really moving or anything. I've read better poems and heard better lyrics. Try, for example, with this Leonard Cohen one:

A Singer Must Die

Now the courtroom is quiet, but who will confess.
Is it true you betrayed us? the answer is yes.
Then read me the list of the crimes that are mine,
I will ask for the mercy that you love to decline.
And all the ladies go moist, and the judge has no choice,
A singer must die for the lie in his voice.

And I thank you, I thank you for doing your duty,
You keepers of truth, you guardians of beauty.
Your vision is right, my vision is wrong,
I’m sorry for smudging the air with my song.

Oh, the night it is thick, my defences are hid
In the clothes of a woman I would like to forgive,
In the rings of her silk, in the hinge of her thighs,
Where I have to go begging in beauty’s disguise.
Oh goodnight, goodnight, my night after night,
My night after night, after night, after night, after night, after night.

I am so afraid that I listen to you,
Your sun glassed protectors they do that to you.
It’s their ways to detain, their ways to disgrace,
Their knee in your balls and their fist in your face.
Yes and long live the state by whoever it’s made,
Sir, I didn’t see nothing, I was just getting home late.


Dunno, I guess that's a preety good example on how I think the best social lyrics are done. The ones on my sig too. God I just love Cohen, he's the best English songwriter ever.

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

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True. I just hate it when bands get political.

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I never could understand that mindset... Aside from politics, there is very little meaningful things to sing about.

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I could think of a hundred good songs that have little or nothing to do with politics.

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

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True. I just hate it when bands get political.

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I never could understand that mindset... Aside from politics, there is very little meaningful things to sing about.

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Love, friendships, losing friends, financial problems, what life means to you, coming to terms with some aspect of yourself, and of course death, all strike me as pretty meaningful things.

I dno't hate when bands get political, but I find not many of them are very good at being political. Most of the stuff out there is just whiny and usually misplaced dislike which achieves nothing except allows one's political opponents to laugh and say 'Yeah, I'm sure your views are so well backed up, being formulated by Green Day and all' (Not dissing GD, just the first band that came to mind.). Especially when songs make fun of personal aspects, as I think this line is; "Are the consonants all hard or soft?", although the message is kind of obtuse there (Again not a good thing. Subtlety is good, obtuseness is not.). Just like all the people who tack someone about how Bush looks like a monkey (Well duh, homo sapiens and all that) onto their rants. It instantly loses the respect of many people, myself included.

Now some people are very good at political songs, as Rye mentioned SoaD, although even they can really overdo it at times (Deer Dance, much as I love it, makes me collapse with laughter nowadays.). You want the real classy stuff, listen to someone like Springsteen.

Bob Dylan.

I agree with Mandee. And eesty beasty.

I don't see why people like to point out all this God stuff about Bush anyways. I can't think of one Presidential speech I've heard or read that hasn't in some way alluded to a God-figure. I can't think of one President who, at least outwardly, wasn't religious at all. And I can't think of one President who hasn't behaved in a hypocritical manner. Well, I can't think of any people who haven't done that.

I'm not defending Bush, I just don't get why I should appreciate art that basically rips off the same things the press has been saying (poorly) for the past forever. Yeah, it's a message, but it's not particularly powerful, and it's not particularly unique.

At least, that's my critique on it.

Agreed, foa.

And, eest mentioned Bob Dylan, which I think is a great point. I love political music when it's done well. This song isnt. I've heard it, and it doesnt even sound good.

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Originally Posted by eestlinc

I much prefer The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again

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yes. too bad Townshend has gone mad and refuses to let people use that song against the Iraq war.

When things like this happen I wonder what happened to the separation of church and state.

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Originally Posted by Excelsior

well, hes gonna be in for another 3, and theres nothing you or I can do about it, so quit your bitching and get over it.

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Actually, if a Democratic majority is elected in 2006 it's entirely possible that he will be impeached, since he's already done enough to merit an impeachment. You know, lying to Congress, lying to the American people. It's all in the Downing Street Memo, but I don't expect the Republican majority to do anything about it.

or, you know, presiding over international war crimes ordered by his administration

well, that too, but I learned long ago that trying to get politicians to call a fish a fish is a fruitless endeavour.

Well first off, the "international war crimes" and "enough to merit an impeachment" are both crocks of , but I won't go towards them in this topic.

The problem here is that for some reason, famous people have this idea that America gives a damn what they think. No, we really don't. Their opinions are no more important than anybody else's--being stupid enough to believe this crap but talented enough to write songs about it doesn't mean they're not still stupid enough to believe this crap. They're here to entertain us, not educate us on topics of politics. Unless you're running for office (Schwartzeneger, Reagan, Ventura, etc.), there's no reason for anybody to give a damn about your political beliefs.

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The problem here is that for some reason, famous people have this idea that America gives a damn what they think. No, we really don't.

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His fans do.

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Their opinions are no more important than anybody else's--

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Agreed.

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being stupid enough to believe this crap but talented enough to write songs about it doesn't mean they're not still stupid enough to believe this crap.

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First of all, it doesn't take much talent to write a song like this. Second, this "crap" isn't crap at all, and it doesn't take a genius to see that it's the truth. This song points out the fact that Bush is an abomination to the Christian faith.

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

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being stupid enough to believe this crap but talented enough to write songs about it doesn't mean they're not still stupid enough to believe this crap.

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First of all, it doesn't take much talent to write a song like this. Second, this "crap" isn't crap at all, and it doesn't take a genius to see that it's the truth. This song points out the fact that Bush is an abomination to the Christian faith.

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First off, there is no "fact" that Bush is anything regarding Christianity. Those that don't believe and/or understand Christianity may say whatever they want, but their opinions don't make any "facts". Many Christians support Bush and his decisions, and nobody's opinions will ever make a "fact" that more than half of America is "an abomination to the Christian faith".

However, it's agreed--it doesn't take much talent to write a song like this, which is often reflected in the groups that usually try it.

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Many Christians support Bush and his decisions

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Ahh.. So these are the people who "Don't understand Christianity".

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and nobody's opinions will ever make a "fact" that more than half of America is "an abomination to the Christian faith".

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I never said that half of America was an abomination to the Christian faith. However, that doesn't change the fact that a good portion of Christians are.

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Originally Posted by Sasquatch

Well first off, the "international war crimes" and "enough to merit an impeachment" are both crocks of , but I won't go towards them in this topic.

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That's highly debatable. We've certainly violated the Geneva Conventions repeatedly.

However, either way Bush deserves an impeachment because he was telling Congress and the American people that he was still searching for a peaceful solution when in fact he had already determined that he was going to war with Iraq, as the Downing Street Memo proves. Of course, Clinton before him deserved an impeachment as well, and probably every president since Eisenhower did as well really.

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However, either way Bush deserves an impeachment because he was telling Congress and the American people that he was still searching for a peaceful solution when in fact he had already determined that he was going to war with Iraq, as the Downing Street Memo proves.

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I don't understand what the deal is about this Downing Street Memo. Didn't we all know this was fact from day one? Before the invasion? I know I certainly did.

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True. I just hate it when bands get political.

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I agree shulp...

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Originally Posted by eestlinc

I much prefer The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again

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Yes me to. It's the same old thing over and over again... Thats one of my favorite songs by The Who :D "Baba Oriley" is my #1. Bout' being a teenager and all the angst, and it being a wasteland full of wasted teenagers.... Opps, sorry to get off topic...

Way for artists to sell-out to politics though.

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

I don't understand what the deal is about this Downing Street Memo. Didn't we all know this was fact from day one? Before the invasion? I know I certainly did.

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A lot of us suspected it, but this is incontrovertible proof. Unfortunately, the mainstream media won't touch it with a ten foot pole, even though Bush's approval ratings are sinking like the Exxon Valdez, so most people don't understand what it means. And most people who are talking about the memo are focusing on the "intelligence was being fixed around the idea that Saddam had WMD" bit, which is too vague for my tastes. The bit about Bush already having decided to go to war is clear, it's incontrovertible, and it directly contradicts what he was saying at the time.

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

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Many Christians support Bush and his decisions

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Ahh.. So these are the people who "Don't understand Christianity".

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and nobody's opinions will ever make a "fact" that more than half of America is "an abomination to the Christian faith".

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I never said that half of America was an abomination to the Christian faith. However, that doesn't change the fact that a good portion of Christians are.

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Ah, yes--You have found your niche in life, it seems. To judge the faith of others--a faith which you so obviously are not a part of--as to whether or not the members of that faith are pleasing to the Higher Power in that faith. Maybe you could move on to Islam, and start counting how many infidels one has to take out in his death to get to heaven, huh?

The Man--"violations" of the Geneva Convention are also highly debatable, as is any validity of the Downing Street Memo.

Oh. So a memo leaked from the highest intelligence office in the British government means nothing?

As for the Geneva Convention, it *only* doesn't apply in cases when the prisoners themselves had already violated it, which we have proof wasn't the case in many of the cases we violated it, since we were holding them without trial.

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Ah, yes--You have found your niche in life, it seems. To judge the faith of others--a faith which you so obviously are not a part of--as to whether or not the members of that faith are pleasing to the Higher Power in that faith.

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I've yet to decide what faith, if any, to be a part of. However, I respect all religions. I grew up around Christianity, and I have seen through personal experience what the "modern believer" is like. Anyone who has even the slightest amount of respect for Christianity as a faith would find these people offensive.

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Oh. So a memo leaked from the highest intelligence office in the British government means nothing?

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To a Republican who cannot come to terms with the fact that Bush isn't a man of god? Yes, to them it means nothing.

You're forgetting about terrorists, for one thing. Geneva Code applies to captured POWs, not terrorists.

And oh yeah. The highest offices of our governments leak highly confidential and damning evidence all the time. Just like how clothes just fall off the back of wardrobe trucks, and people receive electronics without serial numbers as gifts.

And...again. Somebody without the understanding of the Christian faith deems it necessary to judge members of that faith--not only that, but trusts others to believe their judgement of those members of that faith. Slick.

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Originally Posted by Sasquatch

You're forgetting about terrorists, for one thing. Geneva Code applies to captured POWs, not terrorists.

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And we had no proof that most of the people in Abu Gharib, Guantanamo, etc. were terrorists, because, amongst other things, we didn't try them. In fact, it's pretty clear that many of them weren't terrorists at all, but I've lost the links to the sites that proved it because Firefox randomly decided to baleete my favourites.

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And oh yeah. The highest offices of our governments leak highly confidential and damning evidence all the time. Just like how clothes just fall off the back of wardrobe trucks, and people receive electronics without serial numbers as gifts.

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So because it's convenient for liberals, it can't possibly be true.

Oooooookay.

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And...again. Somebody without the understanding of the Christian faith deems it necessary to judge members of that faith--not only that, but trusts others to believe their judgement of those members of that faith. Slick.

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This is one of my exact problems with the modern believer. They tend to be great people, as most people do, but that does not change the fact that thier lifestyles, and thier beliefs contradict the values of Christianity. That is why the are an abomination to the faith.

It really winds me up when people complain about bands getting political. Why should you object that they give a damn about what happens in the world?

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They're here to entertain us, not educate us on topics of politics. Unless you're running for office (Schwartzeneger, Reagan, Ventura, etc.), there's no reason for anybody to give a damn about your political beliefs.

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Amazing! I can give you the trophy to the most superficial comment I have read in EoFF in a long time. "They are here to entretain us". No, no, Britney Spears is here for that, not Bob Dylan, not Leonard Cohen. If everyone thought like you, most of the art pieces done to date would be rotting in some basement. Why the hell should I care for what T.S Elliot or Pablo Neruda think about the world? They should write about lillies and puppies. Same goes for Walt Whitman and Federico García Lorca, who the hell do they think they are, why read Poet in New York when you can listen to Schwartenegger? Gauguin and Picasso, to the fire, Baudelaire and Artaud just charlatans, and who the hell cares on what Delacroix, Firedrich or Gericault have to say? They should have painted walls in white, because we don't give a smurf about what they think, they are not politicians.

Great, just great.

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

This is one of my exact problems with the modern believer. They tend to be great people, as most people do, but that does not change the fact that thier lifestyles, and thier beliefs contradict the values of Christianity. That is why the are an abomination to the faith.

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And it's the place of somebody without an understanding or belief of Christianity to judge Christians on whether their beliefs contradict Christianity or not? Why don't you go find a sport you know nothing about, and become a referee? Your opinions and judgements of Christians matter even less than those of Hollywood.

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Originally Posted by Rye

I like how the song is written, until close to the end, never heard it though. I do like some bands that act political, but only very few can pull it off. Green Day - No. System of a Down - Yes. Their music is basically pointing out the wrongs of society, sometimes serious, sometimes funny. A Perfect Circle is pretty good at it too, but SoaD is the master of it, imo.

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Completely agree with you. SoaD rocks~ yay o.o Also Rammstein has some pretty good songs too (okay mostly they're about mutilating and stuff, but it's violence criticism at best). "We're all living in Amerika, Amerika es wunderbar~"

But....

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

So what should people write about? Holding hands? Making out? Doing drugs? At least political songs have some sort of meaning to them.

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Now you must know that there are other topics in music aswell other than what pop-culture music brings out. It's just way underground. Go dig o.o
Also I think mostly, if the political song isn't extremely powerful and have something else aside the political message, it won't last longer than the time it was made into.

This specific song, haven't heard it (and won't download the video just for the fun), it has a few funny points, and it made me smile a couple times. But not my fav kind of criticism. I like indirect and "hidden" stuff more (this way they'll be a lot easier to dismiss if one doesn't want to listen to the political messages :P). Also this kind of straight verse with repetitions isn't always so appealing.

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Originally Posted by Sasquatch

And it's the place of somebody without an understanding or belief of Christianity to judge Christians on whether their beliefs contradict Christianity or not? Why don't you go find a sport you know nothing about, and become a referee? Your opinions and judgements of Christians matter even less than those of Hollywood.

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Erm. People can be experts on a belief and know more about its history without actually believing in it themselves. For example, I know a lot more about the history of Christianity than a lot of people who proclaim themselves Christians, and I'm an atheist.

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Also I think mostly, if the political song isn't extremely powerful and have something else aside the political message, it won't last longer than the time it was made into.

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That's an excellent point you made there. Probably it's what that song nik0tine posted dosen't have, a deep message, all I see is a preety superficial critique. That's why I refered to Leonard Cohen, his songs are as meaningful today as they were in the 60s and 70s. Most Bob Dylan songs have that too, although personally I don't believe Dylan to be as good as Cohen.